Tucson Show Report 5 TGMS

A group of very collectible European Miners' Frog Lamps on display in a cabinet with other mining artifacts belonging to Siegbert Zecha.

For the last of our reports from Tucson this year we have now moved on and set up our booth for the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show (TGMS).

This is the largest of our displays and the whole team take a great deal of pride in making sure that our displays present our mineral specimens to their best for the customers and collectors that find their way to our booth. Even more effort goes into the set up than our previous events here in Tucson.

For many collectors this is the show to see. Housed in the Tucson Convention Centre the facilities for exhibition offered to dealers here are pretty much all that could be required.
But this show is not just for dealers wishing to sell. This is truly a “show”.

In addition to dealer booths, there are many well lit glass fronted show cabinets that collectors and dealers, as well as major educational establishments and museums alike can put together small modular displays, either from their own collections or collections assembled by clubs and societies world-wide.
The amount of effort that goes into each of these individual displays is, year on year outstanding and the quality of the mineral specimens in each continues to surprise us all.
Throughout the four day event there is also the option to have a break from looking at all these exhibits and sit quietly listening to speakers giving talks on a variety of topics.
All in all the TGMS is a remarkably well run and well-presented event with a variety of options for all who attend.
This year the show topic is “Fluorite” and, perhaps not surprisingly, this has turned out to be a fairly colourful event as a result.
Here, starting with a little about the set-up of our booth and some of the minerals we have to offer, is a taste of just some of the TGMS experience.

This is how it all begins for the Crystal Classics/Kristalle team - Our trucks are reversed to a loading bay and the cabinets and equipment for the displays all have to be unloaded and transported by trolley to the booth in the centre of the exhibition hall.

View of the exhibitor display show cases before they are filled with the exhibits.

The Concert Arena with more booths, at the early stages of assembly.

At the Crystal Classics/Kristalle booth, the cabinets are in Place.

The specimens are being allocated positions in the cabinets.

Members of the team deciding where each specimen should be placed.

Mike Rumsey of the British Museum of Natural History,
caught borrowing some of our mineral stands.

Dona Leicht taking care to find the right place for each specimen.

Robin Hansen and Liz Hacker looking to see if they can improve part of the display.

A well earned Mexican lunch break for some of the crew.

Some of the team towards the end of the day.
Left to right - Dave Whipp, Liz Hacker, Audrey Lloyd, Dave Hacker, Dave Lloyd and Robbie McCarty.

On the Thursday morning the show opened with queues of prospective collectors eagerly looking forward to seeing the displays of Fluorite and embark on a thorough search for specimens for their collections.

Gradually the flow of collectors through the exhibition hall began to reach our booth.

Dona and Wayne Leicht enjoying a light-hearted moment.

Ian Bruce and Diana Schlegel relaxing .... for a moment.

Kristalle and Crystal Classics were able to show more of the Gilles Emringer collection as well as a wide range of other fine world wide specimens.
Here is a closer look at our cabinets and some of the specimens we had to offer at the TGMS.

This case we devoted to specimens of Quartz from crystallised Rose Quartz specimens from Brazil to "Gwindel" Quartz specimens from the Swiss Alps and Mont Blanc areas of France.
A dream for Quartz collectors.

A variety of world wide specimens from locations as far afield as Sicily to Tsumeb, Namibia.

Here is a selection of individual specimens which we had on display. Some have been sold, others have not. If there are any here that you might be interested in please do not hesitate to contact us. We will inform you if the specimen is still available.

Friday at the TGMS is childrens day. School buses from Arizona and beyond arrive with children keen to visit the show. Guided by their tutors many have projects to complete and all seem keen to lap up the world of minerals and gemstones.

School children eagerly waiting for their geodes to be cracked open to reveal for the first time what no one could have seen previously.
Will they be lined with crystals?

A group of school children being instructed by their tutor before dispersing to look at the exhibits.

As previously mentioned there are many exhibits and displays to be seen at the TGMS show.
Here are a few of the cabinet displays that were on show with some of the exquisite mineral specimens.

The first is a show case put together by Al and Sue Liebetrau. A range of colourful Fluorite specimens from around the world.

A closer look at some of those Fluorite specimens in Al and Sue's cabinet.

The British Museum (Natural History) Mineralalogy Dept. had a showcase of fine British specimens of Fluorite and Fluorite associated items.

One of the specimens in the British Museum show case
- A fine Fluorite from the Caradon Mines district of Cornwall, England.

Another specimen of note in the British Museum show case
- a classic Siderite Epimorph after Fluorite
from the Virtuous Lady Mine, Tavistock, Devon, England.

Wayne and Dona Leicht had gone to a great deal of trouble to bring along the best of their personal collection for a display this year. This comprised a fabulous array of colourful mineral specimens from all parts of the world plus a display in a separate cabinet of their personal Native Element specimens, including Gold and Silver specimens:

Wayne, Dona and Lois carefully setting up the display case.

One of the showcases completed.

A closer look at some of the brightly coloured specimens in Wayne and Dona's collection:

An assortment of bright orange Wulfenite specimens from various locations.

Richly coloured blue and green specimens of Azurite and Malachite all cut and polished to show the colours and patterns.

The Native Elements Cabinet of Wayne and Dona Leicht's Collection.

Dona and Wayne in front of their completed show case.

With the help of Ed Loye it was nice to see for the first time a showcase put on by The camborne School of Mines in Cornwall England.

Closely affiliated with the University of Exeter, the display showed some Classic British specimens. Here are just a couple.

Rare British Gold Specimens from the Camborne School of Mines Museum.

Jim Robison put together this amazing display of "Colourful Carbonates" from variuos parts of the world.

A closer look to show just how colourful these specimens are.

Some of the Rhodochrosites in Jim Robison's show case together with a rather fine Cobaltoan Calcite from the Mashamba West Mine, Kolwezi District, Katanga, Dem. Rep. of Congo. (Bottom Left).

This amusing display was just labelled "Death to Galena"

Another breath-taking display of colour.

A display of Fluorite and calcite specimens from Tennessee.

Two specimens depicted above a little closer.

Scalenohedral Calcite with purple Fluorite from Elmwood, Tennessee.

Water colour of a Fluorite with Sphalerite from Tennessee,
with the actual specimen along side.

A selection of fine Fluorite specimens from China.

More Fluorite specimens from various locations in China.

Our good friends Dave and Liz Hacker brought (at some risk) from the UK a fine collection of carved Blue John items. Blue john is a variety of blue, yellow and purple banded fluorite only known from the Castleton district of Derbyshire in the UK. The material is particularly fragile and carvings of this material are highly prized by collectors:

Dave and Liz hacker with their private collection of Blue John artifacts.

A closer look at some of these exquisite carved Blue John items.

Detail of the banding in one of the Goblets.

A piece of the natural Blue John as found in the mines in Derbyshire.

Jesse Fisher and Joan Kureczka brought along a group of Fluorite specimens from the Northern Pennines Orefield in the UK. Again these specimens showed the astonishing diversity of colour provided by this mineral species.

Jesse also brought the largest recorded specimen of Fluorite from the Rogerley Mine which he, Cal Graeber, Ian Jones and other members of the UK Mining Ventures team extracted in July of 2012.

"The Weardale Giant"

Detail of the largest of the Fluorite cubes on the "Weardale Giant"

The National Museum of Scotland also had a group of Fluorite specimens from their collection on display.

A closer look at some of the specimens in the National Museum of Scotland's show case. The specimen on the left is from the renowned Hilton Mine, Scoredale Cumbria, England.

A selection of interesting Fluorite specimens put on Display by
The Royal Ontario Museum.

A collection of pieces of Pectolite (var. Larimar)
from Sierra de Baoruco, Barahona Province, Dominican Republic,
put together by Siber collection AG of Switzerland.

A closer view of one of the"Larimar" nodules showing the structure and the pale turquoise colouring.

Collector and good friend of Crystal Classics/ Kristalle Steve Maslansky, had this great display of Fluorite specimens to show us.

The centre piece of Steve's display, this Fluorite from Rotherhope Fell, Cumbria, England is encrusted with tiny Quartz crystals.

Australia's "Zebra Stone" is a compact siliceous claystone. Here, carved into a number of ornaments and figures, this display was compiled by the University of Wollongong. All the specimens are from the Marty Zinn collection.

Tana with Audrey dressed for the occasion - Valentines Day, of course.

Here are some more of the spectacular museum grade specimens that were on display. First, in keeping with the theme of this years show, a few more Fluorite specimens:

A large Rhodochrosite rhomb on matrix with clusters of needle Quartz crystals
from the Sweet Home Mine, Alma, Colorado, USA.

A large specimen of Rose Quartz Crystals from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Dona and Wayne Leicht at the presentation evening.

Well, as normal we try to bring you as much as we can from each of the shows at Tucson, but this is about as much as we can offer for the TGMS this year.
Here's hoping that these shows will bring as much variety next year as they have this time around.
Next year we will endeavour to cover as many aspects again of each of the shows. It seems the dealers and collectors have a lot to live up to, to follow on from this year.
See you all in 2014.